Yesterday’s Movies on Tuesday - Spartacus 1960
Every Tuesday will have a review, like the one you see below, of a past film that I’ve either never seen or haven’t seen in a really long time. Beware of spoilers!
For more of Yesterday’s Movies on Tuesday, CLICK HERE!
People have looked at me funny when I would tell them, "no, I've never seen Spartacus". The last several months the response I usually got from that comment was, "you run a site about movies and you haven't seen some of the classic films?" - point taken and although I'm not going to argue the fact that I haven't seen many classics, in my defense, I'm only 26 and I have my whole life ahead of me (god willing) to catch up. I am, however, on that road thanks to Netflix. With that said, I've finally seen Stanley Kubrick's classic epic and I've come to talk about it and give you some quick thoughts.
What a fantastic film it is!
Most general movie goers who don't appreciate classic and original filmmaking would probably laugh at the cliches during that time of movie making but that's what makes these films so classic, sometimes to a fault, but when you watch a movie like Spartacus you can't help but miss the romance these films create. Fifty years after the fact, considering my overall love for movies and their production, Spartacus is something brand new to me and makes me regret that I couldn't see something like this for the first time on the big screen.
Spartacus, the leader or one of several leaders during the Third Servile War - a slave uprising against the Roman Empire. In this film, however, Spartacus is the commander of the slave army fighting for freedom against a powerful Roman General and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus. Based from a novel of the same name written by Howard Fast and scripted by Dalton Trumbo, Spartacus is directed by the legendary (what isn't in this movie) Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket) and stars Kirk Douglas as Spartacus. Also starring is a ridiculous cast of acting legends like Laurence Olivier as Marcus Licinius Crassus, the gorgeous Jean Simmons as Varinia, Peter Ustinov as Lentulus Batiatus and Tony Curtis as Antoninus.
Likes:
- It's awesome to see these acting legends in the prime of their lives creating this Kubrick masterpiece.
- I love the opening Overture - Unfortunately the movie goers today would never go for something like that which was used on many epics during that time.
- There's so many good performances in this film but the best is definitely Peter Ustinov who was FANTASTIC!!! The first film I ever saw him in was Logan's Run and it's a pleasure to see him in something else especially one that won him an Oscar.
- Overall the cast is wonderful - Douglas is of course legendary as Spartacus; Olivier was born to play a Roman general; Tony Curtis is great, etc... It's a great cast that delivered great performances.
- The cinematography is gorgeous in Rome and Italy, especially during the final battle with Crassus.
- That Roman march on Spartacus lead by Olivier's Crassus is amazing. Nothing like that is done in movies today. The Roman Legions are now simply replace with CGI and a few stand-ins.
- The score is amazing especially the Spartacus love them which you can actually listen to RIGHT HERE.
Dislikes:
- I'm sure there is a bunch of things more professional people can call mistakes and flaws but in my case, just a simple movie fan, what's not to like.
- If there is anything to call a flaw, it's the fact that it's not historically accurate. To read a little bit about that, head over to Wikipedia.
To quickly wrap things up - without a doubt, Spartacus is the classic epic film everyone should see. It may not be up to today's standards (sadly) but seeing this reminds you that during one time of movie making, everything was created with that special romance that we don't see today and will probably never see again. This is a must see!
-Phil
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